Jack's Spottings LIST

1. Success is distressing, but not dangerous. (The fear of success.)

2. The symptoms are distressing, but not dangerous.

3. Will to effort rather than a will to comfort.

4. Bear the discomfort, even torture, and the comfort will come.

5. Bear the discomfort, take out the danger, and the comfort will come.

6. Be the patient patient. We didn’t get sick overnight; we aren’t going to get well overnight.

7. Domination in the guise of service.

8. Who are we not to have our feelings hurt?

9. Subjective feelings are not facts; they lie and deceive us and tell us of danger when there is none.

10. Be group minded, not self-centered.

11. My subjective want is __________, my objective need is my mental health and inner peace.

12. Be self-led, not symptom led.

13. I spot fiery imagination. Don’t trust a fiery imagination that has lied to you and deceived you in the past and tells you of danger when there is none.

14. I will excuse myself / the outer environment for the sake of my mental health and inner peace.

15. I will drop the judgment against myself / the outer environment for the sake of my mental health and inner peace.

16. Perfection is a hope, a dream and an illusion.

17. We are not responsible for the initial flare of temper, only for prolonging it.

18. We are a capable lot; don’t paralyze yourself with your own fears, sensations and thoughts.

19. We are not responsible for the illness; the illness is fate appointed. We are responsible for getting well and maintaining our health.

20. Take the total view, not the partial view.

21. In the evening, take the total view (of the day).

22. I will lower my standards for the outer environment / myself and my performance will rise.

23. Try and fail, try and fail, and eventually I will succeed.

24. Comparisons are odious. When in temper, don’t compare yourself to the short end of the stick.

25. Physical symptoms are phasic, not basic; nervous symptoms are phasic, not basic.

26. I will endorse myself for the effort and the (relative / partial / real) success.

27. The average person would react in a similar manner.

28. Do the thing you fear and hate to do.

29. Don’t let the outer environment continue to bridge into the inner environment through the bridge of (fearful / angry) temper.

30. Symptoms will come out of the blue.

31. Trigger symptoms call for trigger spottings.

32. Expect frustrations and disappointments every 5 minutes and you won’t be as disappointed.

33. Self-appointed expectations lead to self-induced frustrations.

34. Movement of the muscles overcomes defeatist babble of the brain.

35. The most sublime form of spotting is to know that you don’t know.

36. Have the courage to make a mistake, be tolerant of the mistake, and learn from your mistake (if it was a mistake).

37. The past is outer environment; the future is outer environment. Don’t let the outer environment penetrate into the inner environment through the bridge of (fearful / angry) temper.

38. The illness is a formidable enemy.

39. I will control my speech muscles.

40. Every act of self-control leads to a feeling of self-respect.

41. Don’t go for the symbolic victory, the symbolic victory is an empty victory.

42. Return of the symptoms does not necessarily mean return of the illness.

43. I spot excitement in devious ways.

44. Do things in part acts, and endorse yourself for each part act.

45. Children lack understanding; adults have the will to misunderstand.

46. Children are natural saboteurs of adult purposes.

47. I will change insecure thoughts to secure thoughts.

48. Go back to the basics: the symptoms are distressing but not dangerous.

49. Don’t look to the past with self-blame or preview the future with anxiety or you will remain in symptoms.

50. “I don’t like it”, “I don’t want it”, “it shouldn’t be”, are all forms of angry temper.

51. The Method is simple, but not easy.

52. Objectivity terminates panic and symptoms.

53. What would the average person do in a similar situation?

54. Hurt feelings are opinions of self-importance not shared.

55. Work on the vitalizing cycle when in a vicious cycle.

56. Boring, crying, fearful temper. (Crying is a harmless outpouring of a nervous imbalance.)

57. Be sympathetic, not sentimental.

58. We have the will to work ourselves up and we have the will to work ourselves down. (And I will work myself down.)

59. The average person would work himself / herself up in a similar situation.

60. The average person would feel uncomfortable in a similar situation.

61. My temper is blind to the other side of the story.

62. Have the feelings, sensations and thoughts, but don’t make an issue of it.

63. I will excuse myself for my past temper. I spot that I didn’t have the Recovery method in the past. I have it now and will have it in the future.

64. Chip away at strong links, chip away at weak links, and you will get well.

65. When I endorse myself, I can’t be blaming myself.

66. I will endorse myself for a job well done.

67. The "worst ever" theme: don’t believe what I feel now is the worst ever. When I feel good, I think I will always feel good; when I feel sick, I think I will always feel sick.

68. Smile, baby, at the temper you are experiencing.

69. Don’t expect the world to tiptoe around you because it seldom does.

70. Three supremes: Goal - mental health; Value - inner peace; Method - self-discipline.

71. What we see as an outer danger is merely an inner threat; the inner threat is distressing, but not dangerous.

72.The nervous patient is afraid to say no. I will learn to say no (with culture).

73. Hesitation is fear, the reverse is determination.

74. Don’t discredit the initial improvement.

75. I will measure my health by the way I function, not by the way I feel.

76. As nervous patients, we want to be exceptional, but deep down we feel that we are less than average.

77. Work towards the middle road of averageness.

78. It is better to give the insincere gesture of fellowship rather than the sincere gesture of hostility.

79. Temper blocks reason and logic.

80. Calm begets calm and temper begets temper.

81. Move muscles from a sense of duty, not spontaneity.

82. The tiny muscles are the educators of the mighty brain.

83. When central management breaks down, the muscles will step in and take over.

84. Chance has no chance when purpose governs the situation. My purpose is my mental health and inner peace.

85. Just because I feel guilty, doesn’t mean I am guilty.

86. The nervous patient doesn’t trust his basic functioning. The nervous patient has to learn to trust his basic functioning.

87. Worry is an attempt to control the outer environment; there is room for concern, not despair.

88. Four parts of the total experience: feelings and sensations, thoughts and impulses. Change your thoughts, control your impulses, then the feelings and sensations will rise and fall and run their course.

89. Don’t be a hero, saint or martyr ("marteer").

90. Direct and redirect your thoughts away from yourself.

91. Don’t predict with doom, gloom and disaster, or you will remain in symptoms.

92. Refuse to take seriously the importance of your own dear self.

93. One’s own inner approval is worth more than countless approvals from the outer environment.

94. The body, mind, and soul is a self-healing organism.

95. Spot your limitations at this point in time.

96. Happiness is elusive; seek peace, order and balance.

97. Humor is out best friend, temper is our worst enemy. So smile, baby, at the temper your are producing.

98. Wear the mask of self-confidence.

99. There are no impulses that we cannot control, only those we care not to control.

100. The outer environment can be rude, crude and indifferent without meaning to be (and meaning to be).

101. We see intent where there is merely accident.

102. I am making a business of Recovery, not a game.

103. When you lie in bed for hours, you will sleep for part of those hours.

104. Don't equate your self worth with the way outer environment treats you. (Don't equate your self worth with the way inner environment treats you.)

105. The nervous patient blames himself for things he does or doesn’t do, when he is in temper.

106. Temperamental lingo is alarmist and defeatist by nature. It fortifies and intensifies symptoms.

107. We practice Recovery with a firm policy but not a rigid principle.

108. What we see as an outer danger is merely an inner threat. The inner threat is distressing but not dangerous.

109. No pain, no gain. (And a gain is a gain is a gain, again and again.)

110. I will anticipate securely or not at all.

111. Possibilities vs. probabilities. __________ is possible, but not probable.

112. Nervous patients want the ends but not the means.

113. It is sabotage when you go back to the security of insecurity.

114. We work for the dignity of the paycheck.

115. We think the outer environment has maximal thrust and we have minimal resistance, but this is not so.

116. Practice the method and the belief will come.

117. I will practice the method, and belief in myself and the method will rise.

118. We are apprentices, always learning better to work (and spot) better on our inner environment.

119. I will have the courage to make a mistake and I will be tolerant of my mistake, (and I will learn from my mistake.)

120. Facial features and gestures speak.

121. Repetition is the cure.

122. I will learn to do spottings on temper from the past.

123. Look in the mirror and say, “I love you.” Look in the mirror and do spottings.

124. Jack’s rule of thumb: come to the meeting when you least feel like coming, and give the example you least feel like giving.